They created the first alphabet, established colonies throughout the Mediterranean, and were mentioned in the Bible.

Yet until now, very little has been known about the Canaanite people.

Now, researchers have looked at the DNA of the first ancient Canaanite people, and have suggested that contrary to a biblical account, the Canaanites were not wiped out.

Instead, the group survived, and are the ancestors of the people now living in modern-day Lebanon.

The findings highlight the value of genetic studies for understanding the history of people like the Canaanites, who left few written records themselves.

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Researchers have now analysed the first ancient Canaanite genomes from skeletons in Lebanon to help understand the lives of this mysterious group

KEY FINDINGS

The researchers sequenced the genomes of five Canaanite people who lived almost 4,000 years ago, in the Lebanese city of Sidon.

They also sequenced the genomes of 99 people living in present-day Lebanon.

The analysis showed that between 3,800 and 2,200 years ago, the new Eurasian people mixed with the Canaanite population.

But despite this mixing, the researchers found that the modern day Lebanese people derived most of their ancestry from the Canaanites.

Speaking to MailOnline, Dr Harber said: 'Present-day Lebanese derive over 90 per cent of their ancestry from the Canaanites or a genetically similar population.'

This suggests that there has been substantial genetic continuity in the area since at least the Bronze Age.

The Canaanite people lived in a part of the world we now recognise as Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, establishing a culture that became influential in the Middle East and beyond.

The fifth book of the Old Testament, Deuteronomy, says the Canaanites are people to be annihilated on God's orders.

Teachings suggest the Israelites later did this out around 1250 BCE.

But the first analysis of Canaanite DNA has found that this did not in fact happen.

Researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge have now analysed the first ancient Canaanite genomes to help understand the lives of this mysterious group.

When comparing the ancient genomes with those of modern-day people in Lebanon, the researchers found that they were remarkably similar.

Dr Marc Haber, one of the lead authors of the study, said: 'We found that the Canaanites were a mixture of local people who settled in farming villages during the Neolithic period and eastern migrants who arrived in the region about 5,000 years ago.

'The present-day Lebanese are likely to be direct descendants of the Canaanites, but they have in addition a small proportion of Eurasian ancestry that may have arrived via conquests by distant populations such as the Assyrians, Persians, or Macedonians.'

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The researchers sequenced the genomes of five Canaanite people who lived almost 4,000 years ago, in the Lebanese city of Sidon (bones of one pictured)

The researchers found that modern day Lebanese people derive most of their ancestry from the Canaanites. Pictured is the site in Sidon where the remains were found

The researchers sequenced the genomes of five Canaanite people who lived almost 4,000 years ago, in the Lebanese city of Sidon.

They also sequenced the genomes of 99 people living in present-day Lebanon.

The analysis showed that between 3,800 and 2,200 years ago, the new Eurasian people mixed with the Canaanite population.

The results are in line with accounts of the Canaanites in the Bible. Dr Marc Harber told MailOnline: 'They complement the Biblical accounts: they don't question the descriptions there, but show that some Canaanites survived'

But despite this mixing, the researchers found that the modern day Lebanese people derived most of their ancestry from the Canaanites.

Speaking to MailOnline, Dr Haber said: 'Present-day Lebanese derive over 90 per cent of their ancestry from the Canaanites or a genetically similar population.'

This suggests that there has been substantial genetic continuity in the area since at least the Bronze Age.

The Canaanite people lived in a part of the world we now recognise as Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, and experts have now analysed the remains of five found in Sidon, Lebanon

Dr Chris Tyler-Smith, another author of the study, said: 'In light of the enormously complex history of this region in the last few millennia, it was quite surprising that over 90 per cent of the genetic ancestry of present-day Lebanese was derived from the Canaanites.'

Dr Haber, however, told MailOnline, they don't completely disprove the Biblical accounts - and that the reality may be more complex.

He said: 'They don't question the descriptions there, but show that some Canaanites survived.'

WHO WERE THE CANAANITES?

The Canaanites were people who lived in the land of Canaan - an area that included parts of modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, around 4,000 years ago.

Experts doubt that the Canaanites were ever politically united into a single kingdom, and instead suggest they may have been made up of different ethnic groups.

The Canaanites are mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible, with stories saying that god promised to give the land of the Canaanites over to the Israelites after they escaped from Egypt.

In the stories, God tells Moses: 'I have heard them [the Israelites] crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey — the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.' (Exodus 3:7)

The biblical stories say that the Israelites took over most of the Canaanites’ land, and that those who survived were forced to do labour.

Overall, the researchers believe that the findings highlight the value of genetic studies for understanding the history of people like the Canaanites, who left few written records themselves.

They now hope to carry out further investigations to understand the earlier and later genetic history of Lebanon and how it relates to the surrounding regions.